I don't consider myself a serious contender in this contest, but to say I participated with so many incredible artists I figure it worth something.

I'm still brainstorming a few ideas... the ones at the forefront of my mind at this point are.

Idea #1
The Trojan Horse: A giant mechanical horse given as a gift to the city of Troy from it's besiegers, only to unleash it's payload when the city rests after great party.

Possible images:

A shot from inside Troy opening the gates looking up at the giant mechanical horse as it enteres the city
A shot of the party around the horse sitting in the city court yard
The horse opening up its belly with a whoosh of steam (perhaps too conspicuous but very atmospheric) and releaseing the soldiers (or mechanical men?) from inside to slaughter the city.
Idea #2
"Leonidas' 300 Hundred Mechanincal Men": I like this one if only for the title. Based off the story of the three hundred spartans, popularized by the Frank Millar graphic novel adaptation "300". I love the concept, but I'm currently at a loss for how to depict it, so any idea's would be appreciated.

Possible Images:

A shot of Leonidas front and center with ranks of mechanical men behind him
Some sort of a workshop scene where several mechanical men lay around in parts, while others aid their master in creating more (300 would be quite a task without help!)
Idea #3
"Hermes" the greek messenger god. Basically dipicting him in a steam powered flying suit/craft or possibly as a steam/human cyborg.

First concept drawing... The main issue I was attempting to address was perspective on the gate way to troy to really give a sense of size to the horse passing through.

The horse is just some rough ideas. I'm not really happy with this view however as it doesn't show as much of the horse as I would like, and there is the forshortening issue that I'm having with the legs and head. I think the head could go for an entire redesign making it a little less like a horses but the main problem is a horses head is really rather plain from the front, it's the profile that holds interest which again is a problem with this idea.

I'll likely start exploring some of my other ideas and see if I can come up with anything I like better.

I was really inspired by all the Icarus' that I sort of wanted to do something with wings... Cupid seemed like the best choice if I wanted something different. The cupid of the Greeks, not the Cupid of modern day Valentines day.

I think I have more ideas in my head for this challenge then a bird has feathers.

This image is an idea based off the encounter between Odyssus and the giant cyclops Polyphemus.

A scouting party, led by Odysseus and his friend Misenus, landed in the territory of the Cyclops and ventured upon a large cave. They entered and proceeded to feast on the livestock that they found there. Unbeknownst to them, the cave was the dwelling of Polyphemus, a one-eyed giant who soon returned. Refusing hospitality to his uninvited guests, Polyphemus trapped them in the cave by blocking the entrance with a boulder that could not be moved by mortal men. He then proceeded to eat a pair of them everyday, but Odysseus devised a cunning plan.

To render Polyphemus unwary, Odysseus gave him a bowl of the strong, unwatered wine given them by Maron, the priest of Apollo. When Polyphemus asked for his name, Odysseus told him that it was "Noman". (Οὔτις, "Noman", is also a short form of his own name - a word game which is lost in translated versions.) In appreciation for the wine, Polyphemus offered to return the favour by only eating him last. Once the giant fell asleep, Odysseus and his men turned an olive tree branch into a giant spear, something that they prepared while Polyphemus was out of the cave shepherding his flocks, and blinded him. Hearing Polyphemus's cries, other Cyclopes come to his cave to ask what was wrong. Polyphemus replied, "Οὖτίς με κτείνει δόλῳ οὐδὲ βίηφιν." ("Noman is killing me either by treachery or brute violence!") The other Cyclopes let him be, thinking that his outbursts must be either madness or the will of the gods.

In the morning, Polyphemus rolled back the boulder to let the sheep out to graze. Now blind, he could not see the men, but he felt the tops of his sheep to make sure that the men were not riding them, and spread his arm at the entrance of the cave. Odysseus and his men escaped, however, by tying themselves to the undersides of three sheep each. Once out, they loaded the sheep aboard their ship and set sail

I'm thinking that Polyphemus is a giant cycloptic robot that has long outlived his creator (or has it's creators brain in it) and likes to capture and experiment on people unlucky enough to find themselves on his island.

The cave will be lined more fully with pipes/gauges/dials to help give it a steampunkish laboratory feel.

I'm really not sure how to pose Odysseus for this image with the cylops trying to feel around for him. Odysseus is weaponless so a combative pose wouldn't work well and instead uses his intelligence to get himself out of trouble.

In the morning, Polyphemus rolled back the boulder to let the sheep out to graze. Now blind, he could not see the men, but he felt the tops of his sheep to make sure that the men were not riding them, and spread his arm at the entrance of the cave. Odysseus and his men escaped, however, by tying themselves to the undersides of three sheep each

I think I've decided to focus on the confrontation between Odysseus and Polyphemus, I'm just trying to figure out what part. Mainly because I like giant robots. Basically, it's a "What if Haephestus was the father of Polyphemus instead of Poseidon"

This image is the part mentioned in the quote.. obviously the cave entrance would need to be bigger for Polyphemus to enter and I was playing around with Painter X to make the image, never used it before so I wanted to try some of the different brush types.

Once the giant fell asleep, Odysseus and his men turned an olive tree branch into a giant spear, something that they prepared while Polyphemus was out of the cave shepherding his flocks, and blinded him.

This image was mostly to experiment with getting a palette of colours to make the giant a bronze metal. I think it turned out well.

I've decided to replace the spear with a rock because a wooden spear wouldn't crack/break the robots lens. I may change this to a gear or something else more steampunkish. Any suggestions for breaking the lens in a steampunk way would be greatly appreciated.

I also need to have the robots head propped up agains't something, but I'm not sure what to use. I thought about keeping it flat on the ground, I thought the image would be too boring so I propped up the robots head, but there needs to be something keeping it propped up.

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